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Heels Win in Rastivo's First Start in Goal

from press release

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Jimmy Dunster scored a
career-high four goals and Steven Rastivo made 12 saves in his
first career start to lead sixth-ranked North Carolina to a 12-7
victory over Dartmouth in men's lacrosse action Tuesday night at
Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels played from behind much of the game
before Dunster helped lead a 7-1 Carolina scoring run over the last
17:38 to pull away for the victory.

UNC had several standout individual performances in the game.
Dunster matched his career high for goals in a game, a figure he
also had against Duke in last year's NCAA quarterfinals. Freshman
Nicky Galasso matched his career high for points with five as he
scored twice and added three assists. He also had five points in
the season opener against Robert Morris. Freshman R.G. Keenan won
18 face-offs which also matched his career high set twice
previously this season against Navy and Duke. He went 18-for-21 at
the X overall against the Big Green.

After a 14-9 loss to Duke last Thursday, UNC head coach Joe Breschi
tweaked his starting lineup for the game against Dartmouth, which
fell to 3-3 with the loss. Senior Emmit Kellar and freshman Jordan
Smith started on close defense, both earning their first career
starts in the process. Sophomore Steven Rastivo, who played in
three games as a freshman in 2010, saw his first action of this
season, making his first career start and making 12 saves while
allowing only seven goals.

Besides the big numbers from Dunster and Galasso, Marcus Holman had
two goals for UNC, Pat Foster had a goal and an assist and Mark
McNeill, Billy Bitter and R.G. Keenan also scored goals. It was the
first career goal for Keenan.

Nikki Dysenchuk had two goals and an assist for Dartmouth while
Rhett Miller also scored twice for Coach Andy Towers' team. Drew
Tunney, Jo DeChiaro and Colin Delaney also scored goals for
Dartmouth.

Carolina improved to 6-2 on the season with the victory. Two of the
key stats in the game for Carolina were the play at the X where UNC
won 18 of 23 and the ground ball area where UNC dominated 34-16,
including 10-2 in the fourth quarter when the Tar Heels outscored
the Big Green 10-2. Just last Thursday in the five-goal loss
against Duke, UNC lost the ground ball battle 36-23 and Coach Joe
Breschi had put a big emphasis on improving those numbers heading
into the game with Dartmouth. Sixteen different Tar Heels
contributed to the ground ball total led by Keenan with eight.
Marcus Holman, Ryan Creighton, Mark McNeill and Charlie McComas all
had three ground balls for UNC.

Dartmouth was able to solve Rastivo early, scoring on its first two
shots on goal. Rhett Miller scored an unassisted goal 2:39 into the
match and just 1:46 later Drew Tunney dodged a defender on the left
side for another goal to make it 2-0 Dartmouth.

The Tar Heels bounced back, however, and dented the scoreboard on
an extra-man goal by Marcus Holman, assisted by Pat Foster, with
5:14 left in the first quarter. The goal came 26 seconds after
Dartmouth's Austin Cohen was penalized for slashing. The Heels then
tied the game at 2-2 just 1:59 later as Dunster scored the first of
his four goals. All four of his goals on the night were
unassisted.

Dartmouth regained a two-goal advantage midway through the second
quarter, scoring a pair of fast break goals. After Fergus Campbell
saved a shot by Galasso with 11:33 left in the second quarter, the
Big Green quickly cleared the ball and scored nine seconds later
with John DiChiaro scoing off an assist by Nikki Dysenchuk. A
little less than two minutes later, Ben Rossman forced a turnover
by Duncan Hutchins leading to a fast break with Dysenchuk scoring
off an assist by Adam Boardman with 8:38 to play in the first
half.

The Tar Heels were able to get back to even before halftime. Holman
scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Nicky Galasso at
6:13. Dartmouth won the ensuing face-off but Rastivo made a save on
a shot by Patrick Resch. UNC cleared the ball successfully with
attackman Drew Tunney being flagged for an illegal body check on
the clear. North Carolina cashed in 20 seconds later as Galasso
scored on a rocket from about 18 yards out off an assist by Duncan
Hutchins. Both teams were able to kill off EMO chances in the last
three minutes of the half as the teams went to the locker room tied
at 4-4.

Neither team scored in the opening six minutes of the third
quarter. The Tar Heels then forced a turnover on a clear and Ryan
Creighton picked up the ball and led the break. Creighton fed
Galasso for the score that put the Heels up 5-4 with 8:54 left in
the third quarter. Over four minutes later the Big Green had a long
possession that resulted in a stall warning. But Dartmouth stayed
disciplined and Colin Delaney scored off an assist by Kip Dooley
with 4:32 left in the third quarter. Delaney also drew a penalty on
the play. UNC won the face-off but Holman turned the ball over and
Dartmouth capitalized on the EMO on the other end with Miller
winning a ground ball after his initial shot was blocked and
scoring on the second chance with 3:29 left in the third
quarter.

That would be Dartmouth's last lead of the game. The Tar Heels
scored a minute later with Pat Foster finishing on the crease after
taking a feed from behind by Galasso. Just a half minute later
Dunster blistered a shot past Ferguson from 15 yards out to put the
Heels up 7-6. They never trailed again. Dartmouth had three shots
in the final minute of the third quarter but was unable to get the
equalizer as the team's headed into the fourth with UNC ahead
7-6.

The Tar Heels got their first two-goal lead of the game 1:48 into
the fourth quarter. Foster hit the pipe with a shot and it proved
fortuitous as Dunster jumped on the ground ball and scored on the
crease for an 8-6 lead with 13:12 to play.

Neither team scratched for over 10 minutes after that before a
flurry of scoring in the last 2:20 of the game. Dunster got his
fourth goal at 2:20 and Mark McNeill scored unassisted 26 seconds
later to make it 10-6 with 1:54 to play. Dartmouth countered with a
goal on an underhanded low to high shot by Dysenchuk, his second of
the game, with 1:40 left. The Heels then put the game away with a
goal by Billy Bitter, assisted by Galasso, with 37 seconds left in
the game, and Keenan's first career goal six seconds later after
his 18th face-off win of the night.

UNC was outshot in each of the first three quarters but it had a
13-7 edge in the fourth quarter to end the game with a 36-35 shot
margin. Dartmouth goalkeeper Fergus Campbell was hot in the first
half, making six saves while allowing only four goals. The Tar
Heels got to him in the second half, however, scoring on eight of
their 11 shots on goal in the second 30 minutes.

Both teams did well in the clearing game with Dartmouth going 16 of
18 and UNC 17 of 19. Dartmouth committed 11 turnovers compared to
15 for the Tar Heels. UNC came into the match ranked second in the
nation in fewest turnovers per game but they had three more than
its average on Tuesday. Dartmouth finished 1 of 2 on extra-man
while the Tar Heels were 2 of 5.

Carolina has a quick turnaround as it plays fifth-ranked Maryland
on Saturday at 12 noon at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. The
game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. The Tar Heels beat the
Terrapins 9-7 last year in the regular season in Chapel Hill before
falling to the Terps 13-5 in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Byrd
Stadium last April.